Amazon Rainforest Fights Illegal Logging with Tracking Devices

By Allyson Koerner | January 22, 2013

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The world’s largest rainforest is about to get some serious protection. Brazilian authorities are planning to install tracking devices to help battle illegal logging and deforestation in the Amazon, TIME.com reports.

Authorities will fit the trees with tracking units known as the Invisible Tracck developed by Brazilian firm Cargo Tracck and piloted by Dutch digital security firm Gemalto.

The devices are no bigger than a deck of cards; have a one-year battery life; and are made to withstand the rainforest climate.

The cool part is, if a tree is cut down, the unit will send out a signal to the Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente (IBAMA) aka a rainforest protection agency.

However, there is one downside. The signal is only detected if the tree is within 32 kilometers of a cell network.

“The rainforest in Brazil is approximately the size of the Unites States so it’s impossible to monitor each and every acre,” Ramzi Abdine, the general manager of the subsidiary of Gemalto responsible for the instrument, said.

The tracking devices might stop deforestation altogether, but enforcement agents believe they will provide information on specific logging sawmills where the lumber is taken, in addition to preventing the illegal sale and profit.

According to the National Institute for Space Research, deforestation is at it’s lowest, but about 4,600 square miles of the Amazon has been destroyed in one year.

Hopefully, these tracking devices will give authorities all the help needed to stop this unnecessary act of destruction.